Who’s ready to sue over Census power grab?
Under Obama’s plan, the director of the U.S. Census Bureau, who has yet to be named, would report to White House senior management in addition to the Commerce Department, which oversees the bureau.
A Senate committee has scheduled a hearing next month on the potential change. Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee are also pushing for an investigation.
GOP leaders sent Obama a letter to the White House on Wednesday demanding a reversal of the plan.
“If the president doesn’t acquiesce to our letter, then we will seek the courts,” said Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., a ranking member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said at a news conference Thursday.
“Ultimately I don’t think there’s any question among federal courts about whether or not this is a personal power of the presidency or whether or not executive privilege would be waived if he started doing functions like this,” Issa said.
A spokesman for Issa told FOXNews.com that the lawmaker wouldn’t initiate a lawsuit but would lend his support to any individual or group that did.
At the news conference Thursday, House Republican leaders announced the formation of a census task force to keep an eye on developments. Republicans displayed a large placard with a 2006 quote from White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel that read, “If you think redistricting is always partisan and political which it is…it’s going to be on steroids this time.”
Just in from Bruce Chapman, former Census Bureau director whose work on this topic exposed Obama’s designs:
The announcement today by Sen. Judd Gregg that he is withdrawing his name as the president’s nominee to be Secretary of Commerce–and citing the Census issue as one reason–is going to increase scrutiny of the White House’s plans to try to change the way the 2010 Decennial Census is conducted. Clearly the president has done little to alleviate concerns of Gregg, a Republican, that the Census might be conducted in a politicized manner.
It is now unavoidable that the White House statements claiming oversight of the Census preparations were not flukes caused by ignorance or naivete. They must have been serious or Sen. Gregg would not have decided to withdraw. One previously could give the president the benefit of the doubt. He was too busy with other matters to make his position clear. Now he has lost another cabinet nominee–not because of faults in the nominee, but because the nominee didn’t want to be part of the Administration that ignored the chain of command and tried to micro-manage a function traditionally left to career scientists.
It is also possible, however, that Gregg didn’t quit, but was shoved. The West Wing officials by now may have figured out that there are legal as well as political risks if they try to change the plans for the Census from the White House instead of the Commerce Department. Lawsuits were threatened today by House Republicans.
It would be more expedient for the White House to have a pliable Secretary of Commerce in place if the aim is to “re-evaluate” the conduct of the 2010 Census in order to introduce adjustment of results through sampling and computer modeling. Gregg presumably would not have gone along–and would have been hard to run over.
But the legal issues will remain even if a willing partisan is nominated and confirmed as Commerce Secretary. There is a 1999 Supreme Court ruling that would make sampling-based adjustment difficult in the absence of compelling evidence that the customary hard count would be less credible. And that evidence not only is lacking, but a three year statistical study that was finished in 2003 to respond to this issue concluded just the opposite: adjusting the Census numbers through sampling and computer models could lead to a less credible Census result. A hard count has always been legally defensible. An fuzzy “adjusted” Census–where figures at the Census tract and block level would be plaining erroneous in many cases–could invite endless litigation and bad will.
Another problem for the Obama White House if it wants to change the Census approach: planning for the 2010 Census has been underway for years and now is in preparation for testing. The disruptions caused by an Administration decision to change those plans would cause great problems and probably agitate the resistance of career statisticians charged with responsibility for conducting the Census.
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Related:
The open-borders agenda behind the power grab
Bruce Chapman on the Obama administration’s war on science
See what others have said
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Trackbacks
- Judd Gregg withdraws from Commerce Sec nomination « Wellsy’s World
- Lawsuit brewing over comrade B. Hussein Obama’s attempt to hijack the 2010 census! | Fire Andrea Mitchell!
- Obama and Congress are handcuffed together with the porkulus package « Riggword Weblog
- GOP to Fight Census Power Grab |
- Cheat Seeking Missiles » Fighting Rahmbama On Census Giving GOP A Spine
- Aslan is on the Move » Blog Archive » Making Sense of the Census: Yet Another Power Grab By the Obama Administration
- Michelle Malkin » Obama’s border talk: I call bull
- Presidential Oath Takers and Oath Breakers–Stopping The 20 Million Mexican Illegal Alien Invasion of the United States! « Pronk Palisades
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Are these morons finally going to grow a spine?
Hooray for Congressman Issa!!
There are some good ones in the House. People who will stand up for the citizens of this country. Isn’t a it a shame that all of them won’t?
Obviously, America needs a real ACLU …
The left has being using the courts for decades now to advance their agenda. And you know what? It’s been working.
It’s time the right does the same.
The dem power grabs leave us no choice!
They are looking to stack the deck, using foreign nationals.
Illegal aliens.
The undocumented.
The more pertinent question I believe.
From the President on down.
OK, I’ll sue. Where do I start?
I am beyond infuriated. Do you people really want Rahm Emanuel to change the makeup of this country for the next 100 years?
This is a highly politicized move, and I’m not even surprised by the gall of this administration to start such s power grab not even a month into the presidency.
A class-action lawsuit with individual citizens as co-plaintiffs? Sign me up!
The census is supposed to be an actual headcount of U.S. citizens, not a statistical projection of any warm bodies that might be in a Democrat district!!
Or cold ones which they are partial to as well.
So, the ONE is not a moderate after all, first ACORN, now this. Obama’s lust for power appears to be boundless.
Just like registering to vote, if these lazy worthless welfare abusing people will not just fill out the census forms, then they do not deserve to be counted and their districts do not deserve the money that would be lost due to a lower population. Leave the friggin district boundries alone and just count citizens.
I always felt the Census power grab deserved way more attention than it got, and I’m very heartened to see that people are standing up and paying attention. The administration shouldn’t be able to co-opt the census process without a protracted fight.
Yes! Obstruct! Obstruct! Block this insane madman Obama from destroying America!
Obstruct! Sue, sue!!
I have heard they are 2-3 BILLION over budget with the census now and I wonder now much more it is going to add with this change.
You really think Rahm is going to have people go out there and actually COUNT heads? Of course not! He’ll be making up the numbers as he goes along to make sure that red states are turned blue, and blue states stay blue.
This is a scam and an illegal power grab.
Allow me to don my tin-foil hat. With Gregg out of the way, “stealth” sampling now has an open road. Remember, the Census Bureau will be leaning heavily on ACORN, and they have ample experience in creating various government forms, from voter registrations to ballots, out of thin air.
While they’ll claim they’re doing a “hard-count”, it will be more like, “One for you, one for me. Two for you, one-two for me. Three for you, one-two-three for me.”</hat_tin_foil>
It’s real hard to count dead people when there’s a real count. Computer modeling could add in all the graveyards.
Those generally familiar with science, statistical methods, spatial analysis, etc. have come to know 2 phrases intimately:
“How to Lie with Statistics”, and,
“How to Lie with Maps”
Any malfeasance in executing the Census involves BOTH. Be warned.
Thanks Rep. Issa for standing up for the right thing. He seems like a genuinely good guy (I know, a rare find in the US Congress).
I’m in. Where do I sign?
The GOP ought to push (red) states to go to at large representation. If you have 10 Congressmen, the top ten vote getters would get seats.
A lot of the political illiteracy of voters is related to how many safe districts there are where there is no debate on the issues or who’s going to be elected. The deadwood extremists in safe districts would have to actually
campaign and make a case why they deserve a seat.
Democrats can get people into polling places so their vote(s) will count and they can assemble 2+ Million Strong for an inaguration…but they can’t seem to get the “right kind of people” into certain Census Block Groups to be hard counted?
Come on! Most of the Census is done by mail, and physical interviewers can’t ask about legal resident status. This should be a Census Fraud cake walk for these Community Organizer Pros.
So why do they need “sampling models?”
Michael Ramirez sums up Obama’s census power grab.
Get in line. I just sent an email/comment feedback form to Issa letting him know I’m here to help…
Can you imagine the howls from the Left about “BusHitler” and “abuse of power” and the “Bush crime family” if Pres. Geo. W. Bush had tried this stunt??
I’m thinking we may need to move to Alaska and rename it, America.
The rule of the land will be our current Constitution, strictly adhered to and enforced. Domestic enemies will be deported to Russia or Canada.
Here’s a link to the membership of the Oversight & Government Reform Committee membership. Email those from your state. We’ve got to get them to do their job and prevent this census atrocity!
http://oversight.house.gov/about/members.asp
This says it all. I wonder when the rest of the RINO’s will wake up and figure out they too are only window dressing.
I thought the U.S. Census was mandated by the Constitution to be under the direction of Commerce. If so, Obama’s move should be in violation of the Constitution??? Or, doesn’t that matter anymore?
SUE HELL
i say we impeach him for failing to follow the law, the constitution and breaking his oath of office.
Anybody else in the infant stage of the Ocastro administration want to step forward to the mic & camera and speak truth to the public…
…Go For It! You might just make something of yourself some day.
US Constitution Article 1, Section 2.. “[The Census] shall be made … in such Manner as [Congress] shall by Law direct.”
Refer to link:
http://www.usconstitution.net/consttop_cens.html
So this opens up a quandary, the Constitution gives authority to Congress, who (in this day in time) might try and pass it to the Messiah, however, I think they would have to make an amendment to the Constitutional Article to do that and that would among other requirements, require national voter approval – not a quick fix.
Heck with impeachment…send his a$$ to prison. Pelosi and Ried are next.
Will they count dead people? I hear after you die and then show up to vote you are a raging Democrat.
A good example of this is California. DMV records show the population declining, but the housing department shows the population remaining the same. This is why California is broke, tax paying legal residents are being replaced by non tax paying illegals at a rate at least one to one. If the number of California representatives does not decline in 2010, you know illegals have been counted. If the next governor’s election gives us a democrat (probably) one of their first orders of business will be to give illegals drivers licenses to cover this up.
Thanks for this, Michelle. We needed a lift, and I am sure we won’t see Chapman’s take anywhere else.
If a Republican president was going to do this the looney left would be screaming from high heaven, but because it is the One it is wonderful.
Welcome to the world of Fuzzy Math in counting dollars and people!
On February 12th, 2009 at 6:23 pm, AlohaGuy said:
Bravo!!!
—-
The 1787 signers of the Constitution understood “natural born Citizen” as it was defined by natural law and described in the 1758 book:
The Law of Nations, or Principles of The Law of Nature applied to the conduct and affairs of Nations and Sovereigns, Book 1, Sections 212 and 215:
Again, the 14th Amendment does not speak to who is a natural born citizen, it only speaks to who is a citizen. Qualifying as a citizen under the 14th Amendment does not automatically qualify someone as a natural born citizen. One must look at the citizenship of the parents, as well as birth location, to determine if someone qualifies as a natural born citizen.
—
Obama is not a natural born citizen, even if he was born on U.S. soil, becuase his father was a British (not U.S.) citizen, and that British citizenship was passed from father to son.
But even for the people who don’t accept that argument, there is still the issue that Obama has never shown an original birth certificate to show that he was born in Hawaii.
The man is a complete and utter FRAUD, and he is abusing the most powerful office in the world.
I wouldn’t trust any Republican in Congress to lend support. As soon as Nancy offers him some Pork for his district the support will end.
MM and fellow Patriots,
There is nothing like boots on the ground to keep an eye on things.
Testing and job hiring is going on now in your area. Most of the jobs are short term some last many months and the pay isn’t shabby etc. Lawsuit idea is great but lets fill the ranks with
honest Americans and get paid to do it!
http://2010.census.gov/2010censusjobs/
Unconstitutional? Yes. Will the Supreme Court intervene?
Obama’s Birth Certificate? No.
Senator Clinton to Secretary of State? No.
Members of Congress serving as Officers in the Reserve (Murtha)? No.
To get any action from the Supreme Court you would need a Touch Feely subject such as Queer adoption of young boys or Rights for Illegal Aliens- Enemy Combatants, important stuff. A stacked Census would make people feel good.
I fear our once beloved “Bill of Negative Rights” as Obama calls it is fading from the public conscious.
Reason 767 to home or Church school your children.
YEAH!!!! I am glad somebody is talking about suing this idiot in charge over the takings of our Constitution!
Go Issa!
I won’t link them but Huffington Post has a post up now that is basically trying to provide cover for Obama and say the Congressional Black Caucus objected to Gregg as an issue and the White House just was forced to take the census in house.
Bad Bad Republican Gregg is all to blame by their tale of horror.
I want an Honest Census done, to a high degree of accuracy. Then I want Voter Rolls thoroughly examined for the legitimacy of the registrations so all of the Acorn Voter Fraud bogus names are purged from the rolls.
The Congressional Black Caucus is a Racist Organization that should be disbanded now. Special Interest groups have no place in Congress. Obama told shameless lies about transparency and open government. It’s time that he made good on it. The US Census is not to be made into a tool for this type of discriminatory action.
I need to give the 2010 Census greater thought than I did for the one in 2000. The last one, well I just played it like it meant something; straight forward, based on knowledge that was available to me. But it is really more than that. It is an exercise in self-identification, a chance to expand your perception of self and ancestry. The government allows you to be who you want to feel like being; all is possible. I am leaning toward the following for the 2010 Census:
1. For myself I may identify as Black with a (yes) check for Chicano
2. My spouse can be an American Indian of the Kickapoo tribe with a (yes) check for Other Spanish and identified as Falklander.
3. The first child can be Chamorro with a (yes) check for Puerto Rican.
4. The second child can be Samoan with a (yes) check for Cuban.
This is the 21st century, you can be what you feel. Is this a great country or what?
When I signed onto the, “We’re Screwed ‘08″ campaign, I had no idea the depth to which we would sink in just a short 24 days of the BHO Administration. We’re not just “screwed”; we’re being destroyed from the top and there seems to be nothing to stop this. I’m switching to Libertarian. I think that if we rise up as Libertarians, we’ll be able to find the backbone we need to overthrow these efforts. The GOP, saving a few laudable members, lacks the credibility to get this done for us, I’m afraid.
That is not politically correct. The PC term is necro-proxy voter.